Thailand to assist haze-affected people in Indonesia

BANGKOK, November 2 (TNA) - The Thai Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will ask the Cabinet to approve its plan on assisting Indonesia to handle forest fires and will work out a plan to also cope with forest fires and haze in the country. Permanent Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Kasemsun Chinnavaso told journalists on Monday that senior officials concerned at the 13th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Environment, held in Hanoi, Vietnam's capital, from October 26-30, discussed the problems of forest fires and haze which were continuing in Indonesia due to drought and drainage from peat swamp forests. Kasemsun said that other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) expressed their sympathy with Indonesia and were offering help. In case of Thailand, the senior official noted, his ministry will ask the Thai Cabinet to approve health services to assist about 500,000 people in Indonesia who have suffered from respiratory problems caused by haze. Meanwhile, Wicharn Simachaya, Director-General of the ministry's Pollution Control Department, told reporters that Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand will formulate a joint plan to prevent forest fires and haze and Thailand will also organize a meeting to discuss the draft plan in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai Provinces in the Thai North in February 2016. According to the senior official, Thailand will also supply equipment to help test air quality in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia to improve the prevention of forest fires and haze. The senior official stressed that Thai authorities will do their best to cope with forest fires and haze, as the Meteorological Department has predicted that the El Nino weather phenomenon will be severe and cause terrible drought next year. (TNA)